Alex de Minaur has suffered a startling defeat, crushed by the latest teenage Spanish wonder boy in the second round of the Madrid Open.
On a day when Carlos Alcaraz caused consternation by announcing his withdrawal from the upcoming French Open with a wrist injury, 19-year-old Madrid local Rafael Jodar filled his place seamlessly by blowing away the Australian 6-3 6-1 in 75 one-sided minutes.
It was Jodar’s first victory over a top-10 opponent and will surely not be the last as de Minaur looked powerless to cope with the youngster’s power and precision as his serve got broken six times on the way to the chastening loss just a month before the French Open.
De Minaur has won only four of 10 matches since winning the Rotterdam Open in February. The Australian climbed to an equal career-high ranking of world No 6 during that run of form but has slipped back to No 8 while crashing out of six tournaments since then.
Jodar slammed 15 winners past the fazed de Minaur, the last being a glorious inside-out forehand tracer that may have felt like a merciful release for the Australian, who could only conjure up a couple of his winners of his own while making 26 unforced errors.
World No 1 Jannik Sinner was watching on from courtside, surely recognising that it won’t be that long before he’ll have a new threat to be concerned about.
The teenage wildcard showed just why he’s shot up from No 687 in the world to No 42 in just the past 12 months in a performance which might have been designed to make fifth seed de Minaur feel that, at 27, a new breed of power player is now emerging to torment him.
“It was crazy. Crazy feelings. I’m super happy to get my second win here in Madrid at my home tournament, where I used to come when I was a kid, and I used to watch all these top players in the stands,” said the young Real Madrid fan on the Manolo Santana Stadium at the famed Caja Magica venue.
“Now, being able to play here in the centre court means a lot to me.”
De Minaur’s exit means Adam Walton, who faces 13th seed Karen Khachanov on Saturday, remains the only Australian left in either the men’s or women’s draw.
Next up, Jodar will play fellow 19-year-old tyro, Brazilian Joao Fonseca, in a duel of the two youngest players inside the world’s top-100.
With his win over de Minaur, the Spaniard has joined Fonseca as just the second man born in 2006 or later to record a top-10 win.
Jodar will certainly be someone to be avoided in the Roland Garros draw, as he rampages on after capturing his maiden ATP Tour title in Marrakech earlier this month and then making the semi-finals of the Barcelona Open.
Earlier, top seed Sinner had received an early shock from French qualifier Benjamin Bonzi, losing the first set in a tiebreak before powering to a 6-7 (6-8) 6-1 6-4 victory.